USPS Will Use More DM Next Year

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Postal Service wants to practice what it preaches next year: It's increasing the amount of direct mail it uses, an official said at this week's Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee meeting.

"We used a lot of direct mail ourselves [in our last fiscal year], and we should be walking the talk, frankly," Anita Bizzotto, USPS chief marketing officer and executive vice president, said during a media lunch. "If we are out there trying to tell businesses about the effectiveness of mail, then we should be following our own guidance, and you'll see probably more direct mail from the postal service aimed at both consumers and businesses."

The USPS also plans a sister publication to Deliver, its custom-published magazine targeted at CEOs, corporate marketers and their creative agencies, she said. The publication, launching in January, will be called Impact and will focus on small businesses. It will have an online version along with the hard-copy edition.

Bizzotto also said the postal service is doing what it can to encourage people to send First-Class cards and letters.

Next year, "just like this year, we are … looking at the products we have, making them as easy for customers to use or enhancing them in a way for customers that expressed a need," she said.